I decided to do an experiment on the fish crows at our school. Fish crows live on the east-coast of the United States, and are scavengers, like most other crows. I wanted to see the difference in there behavior on Wednesdays (when we have pizza lunch) and during the rest of the week. I thought that I could try to find out whether the change from paper to plastic plates has changed how the crows react on Wednesdays.
My Hypothesis: The fish cows will react differently, and be more aggressive on Wednesdays. I think that on Wednesday, the fish crows know that pizza will be left lying around, and they will be getting very close and trying to get at peoples pizza. On other days, I suspect that the crows will stay up in the trees for the most part and be much less aggressive and more relaxed. I suspect that there will be more crows out on Wednesday, with only a few on other days of the week.
Procedure: I will watch the crows on all days of the week, and compare their behavioral differences on Wednesday versus other days of the week. I will count the number of birds on Wednesdays versus other days of the week. Towards the end of the data collection I will put a piece of pizza out on a day other than Wednesday, and see how the birds respond to it compared to other Wednesdays.
Resources: 150 children all eating pizza on the same day of the week, and your own observations.
Results: My hypothesis was supported by the results. After watching the crows for a few weeks, I've noticed a few trends. The crows typically stay up in the tall pine trees around the school, but on Wednesdays they become much more aggressive, and they are much closer to the ground. They start to move around a lot more about 20-30 minutes before pizza lunch. I think that the crows have learned that there will be pizza on Wednesdays, and that is why they are so much more aggressive. I know that in past years the crows have been more active on Wednesdays but I don't know how much more so because I haven't been watching closely. I think that this change is being caused by the switch from paper plates to reusable plastic ones. There is much less pizza left lying on the ground since the switch, so the crows aren't as active because there is less food available and they are starting to realize that and adapt their behavior.
Fish Crows Love Pizza, Right?
I decided to do an experiment on the fish crows at our school. Fish crows live on the east-coast of the United States, and are scavengers, like most other crows. I wanted to see the difference in there behavior on Wednesdays (when we have pizza lunch) and during the rest of the week. I thought that I could try to find out whether the change from paper to plastic plates has changed how the crows react on Wednesdays.My Hypothesis: The fish cows will react differently, and be more aggressive on Wednesdays. I think that on Wednesday, the fish crows know that pizza will be left lying around, and they will be getting very close and trying to get at peoples pizza. On other days, I suspect that the crows will stay up in the trees for the most part and be much less aggressive and more relaxed. I suspect that there will be more crows out on Wednesday, with only a few on other days of the week.
Procedure: I will watch the crows on all days of the week, and compare their behavioral differences on Wednesday versus other days of the week. I will count the number of birds on Wednesdays versus other days of the week. Towards the end of the data collection I will put a piece of pizza out on a day other than Wednesday, and see how the birds respond to it compared to other Wednesdays.
Resources: 150 children all eating pizza on the same day of the week, and your own observations.
Results: My hypothesis was supported by the results. After watching the crows for a few weeks, I've noticed a few trends. The crows typically stay up in the tall pine trees around the school, but on Wednesdays they become much more aggressive, and they are much closer to the ground. They start to move around a lot more about 20-30 minutes before pizza lunch. I think that the crows have learned that there will be pizza on Wednesdays, and that is why they are so much more aggressive. I know that in past years the crows have been more active on Wednesdays but I don't know how much more so because I haven't been watching closely. I think that this change is being caused by the switch from paper plates to reusable plastic ones. There is much less pizza left lying on the ground since the switch, so the crows aren't as active because there is less food available and they are starting to realize that and adapt their behavior.
Average Number of Crows At Lunch-Time
Bibliography:
Information: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Fish_Crow/id http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birding/fish-crow/
Pictures: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Fish_Crow/id